People offer entertainment at the fair

Wednesday

Sep 26, 2012 at 5:02 PM

Whenever I go to any event with a large gathering of people, one of my favorite things to do is to people watch. It never fails to fascinate me how totally different people are even if they are all from the same town with basically the same backgrounds and who were most likely raised with similar cultural values. I was reminded of this once again when we went to the county fair last week.

Sharon Myers

Whenever I go to any event with a large gathering of people, one of my favorite things to do is to people watch. It never fails to fascinate me how totally different people are even if they are all from the same town with basically the same backgrounds and who were most likely raised with similar cultural values. I was reminded of this once again when we went to the county fair last week. I dress for comfort whenever there is a likelihood of extensive walking and the possibility of being upside down at any point. So what red-blooded American doesn't turn to a T-shirt and jeans in a situation like this? As a mother, I am thinking about the necessity of jackets after the sun goes down or having something to carry all the junk food, stuffed animals and free handouts that we surely will be collecting throughout the evening. So my mentality as I get ready for an evening at the fair is one of preparedness. As I looked around at other fairgoers, I noticed that other people have different reasons when they get dressed for the evening. Some are just wearing whatever they had on at work. These are most likely those harried parents whose daily schedule is so slam packed that they are just trying to squeeze in a few fun hours for the children and didn't have time to stop at home to change clothes. I saw a mother in a pair of bottle green scrubs looking like some extra from a medical drama who had gotten lost and wandered onto the wrong set.While sitting on a bench waiting for my children to finish the bumper cars, a whole parade of people with polarized physical appearance flowed past me. To my right was a group of young parents heavily tattooed with multiple piercings on every visible orifice, but only two feet away was a smartly attired elderly couple who were pressed and polished to perfection, complete with tie, handbag and sling-back heels.The teenagers, of course, were the ones who turned a simple county fair into the fashion event of the season. The boys dressed to look as if they didn't care what they looked like but were careful to stick to the cargo shorts, ball cap and T-shirt that is the mandatory uniform for all young men. But the teenage girl reigns supreme at times like these. Channeling their inner Southern belle, they primp, preen and pour on the war paint with the hope of catching the eye of one of these Carhartt princes. They squeeze themselves into the shortest, tightest outfits guaranteeing to raise the pulse of any red-blooded male and the eyebrows of all disapproving females. As a mother, I cringe at the skimpiness of their shorts knowing that in a few years, my innocent 8-year-old daughter will turn into one of these want-a-be seductresses no matter how much I protest.Those of us not trying to attract the attention of the opposite sex use this public forum to express our personalities in a different fashion. Some sport shirts with characters from their favorite movies, entertainer or to promote a business or charity. A few people have shirts with racy jokes or funny pictures to let everyone know how much of a comedian they are. My favorite experience of the evening was when I was surrounded by a mass of high-schoolers wearing dark blue T-shirts each with a different letter on the front. Since they were not lined up in any particular fashion, I had no idea what they could possibly be trying to spell. Has texting ruined their brains and they can only cope with one letter at a time? Has life-sized Scrabble become the newest fashion trend?As the evening went on I saw different youths wandering around who were also were wearing the same colored shirt with one letter on the front. Sometimes one or two would break away from the pack, and you'd see A and E breezing past or Y aimlessly wandering by. I was later informed that the students wore the shirts to spell out the name of their candidate for the fair queen competition that was taking place that night. When you go to the fair there are many obvious things to attract your attention, but beneath the flashing lights and blaring music there is a parade of humankind that can be just as interesting. We get caught up in the exhibitions, the rides and the games, but we forget that sometimes it is the people themselves who can be the biggest entertainment.Sharon Myers is a married mother of two. She is a graduate of Lexington Senior High and received her bachelor's degree in journalism from East Carolina University.